Hyphenated vs. unhyphenated form

Question

A.  Can I get a five-pound top-up for Virgin Mobile?B.  Can I get a five pouns top-up for Virgin Mobile?C.  I fell like an 11-month pregnant woman.D.  I feel like an 11 months pregnant woman.E.  two-week noticeF.  two weeks' noticeG.  three-day tripH.  three days trip1.  Which is good English in each pair above?  My guess is A, C, F and G.  I'm not sure about this, though.2.  In the second pair above, I chose C because the hyphenated form is what I usually read, but I'm confused why I read version D (11 months) in a British newspaper this morning.3.  When do we use the hyphenated form and the unhyphenated one?  For example, in F, why is "two weeks' notice" the common form instead of the hyphenated form?Please advise.  Thank you.

MrPedantic · Accepted Answer

I would agree with your choices, Anon, except that I'd choose D instead of C, and hyphenate "11 months".

Generally, you would hyphenate in such cases where the phrase consists of number + noun in an attributive sense, i.e. acting like an adjective:

1. a five-pound note

F on the other hand presents a different kind of phrase: "two weeks' notice" means "relating to two weeks".

Best wishes,

MrP

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you very much, MrP, for your explanations.

MrPedanticI would agree with your choices, Anon, except that I'd choose D instead of C, and hyphenate "11 months".

Do you mean I should rewrite D as follows? If so, why is the 's' not dropped like in other examples? I've noticed when phrases like this are hyphenated, the second word of the phrase is usually singular.
D. I feel like I am an 11-months pregnant woman.

MrPedanticF on the other hand presents a different kind of phrase: "two weeks' notice" means "relating to two weeks".

Just to confirm my understanding of your explanation, does the first sentence below have the same meaning as the second?

I'll give them a two weeks' notice.

I'll give them a notice of two weeks.

MrPedantic · Answer

Hello Anon,

AnonymousDo you mean I should rewrite D as follows? If so, why is the 's' not dropped like in other examples? I've noticed when phrases like this are hyphenated, the second word of the phrase is usually singular.D.

I feel like I am an 11-months pregnant woman.

Yes, that's how I'd put it. (Some people might even use two hyphens, i.e. 11-months-pregnant.)

I would speculate that the difference between this phrase and others where the s is dropped is that here "11-months" acts adverbially, and modifies an adjective ("pregnant"), whereas elsewhere the hyphenated phrase acts adjectivally ("five-pound note"). This is only speculation, though.
AnonymousJust to confirm my understanding of your explanation, does the first sentence below have the same meaning as the second?
Genitives such as the one in "two months' holiday" are remnants of Old English, and have carried with them connotations beyond simply "of", such as "comprising", "pertaining to", and "relating to". So "notice of two months" might seem a strange phrase, to many native speakers ("notice consisting of two months" might be a closer approximation).

All the best,

MrP

MrPedantic · Answer

AnonymousI'll give them a two weeks' notice.
I'll give them a notice of two weeks.

I should have mentioned that you would omit the article "a" here, i.e.

1. I'll give them two weeks' notice.

Having thought about this question again (though by no means comprehensively), I would also speculate that (in expressions of time) the hyphenated forms tend to be found where the noun is preceded by a determiner (e.g. the indefinite article), while the genitive forms tend to accompany non-count nouns, e.g.

2a. Take a two-week holiday.

2b. Take two weeks' holiday.

Cf.

3. I've booked three days' leave. ["leave" is usually only non-count]

4. I gave him three weeks' notice. ["notice" is usually only non-count]

5. It has a six-year warranty. ["warranty" is usually only countable]

(Perhaps another member will find counter-examples, though.)

Best wishes,

MrP

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you very much, MrP, for all your explanations. I've really learned a lot. Just two more questions below I hope you can help me with, please.

Going back to examples G and H after taking into account what you explained, do you think the following sentences are both acceptable?

I won a three-day trip to Las Vegas.
I won three days' trip to Las Vegas. (= trip consisting of three days)

If both are acceptable, which is more natural?

MrPedantic · Answer

Hello Anon,

1. I won a three-day trip to Las Vegas

This is fine.

2. I won three day's trip to Las Vegas.

This wouldn't occur, unfortunately because "trip" isn't used as a non-count noun. On reflection, there seem to be very few nouns that would be used in phrases of this kind, and could also be used in both count and non-count forms. ("Holiday" is the obvious example.)

Most therefore seem to be restricted to one form or the other (e.g. "notice", which is accompanied by the genitive form, as in "three months' notice", and "trip", which takes the hyphenated version, as in "a two-week trip").

I notice by the way (on looking into this a little further) that quite a few native speakers are happy to pluralise the second component in the hyphenated form, e.g. "a three-days trip". This seems strange to me, as a British speaker, but maybe it's less unusual in other forms of English.

All the best,

MrP

Anonymous · Answer

Hi MrP,

I see the correct use of the hyphenated form or the genitive really depends on the noun it follows, whether it is countable or non-countable.

I believe this is all clear to me now. Thanks so much for your examples and confirming mine as well. They were really helpful that I now understand. Cheers.

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